The effect of edges on apparent lightness of the uniform luminous field was investi-gated in the so-called Craik-O'Brien and Cornsweet patterns as compared with that in the edgeless uniform field. It was found that a white edge in the Craik-O'Brien pattern of Type II as well as a black edge in that of Type I lowered or darkened apparent lightness of the field on both side of the edge. The so-called Craik-O'Brien effect was due to assymmetry of the edge-effect on the two sides. The darkening effect of the white edge was explained by the antagonistic lateral inhibition. The same effect of the black edge was explained by a newly introduced concept of non-antagonistic inhibition. The Cornsweet effect was a combination of two edges, white and black, but not simply a summation but a complicated interaction of them.

The present study was designed to analyze the function of respiratory movements in speech. This study aimed specifically to analyze the voluntary abdominal move-ments just prior to speech and the speech utility. Subjects were 20 graduate students. They were asked under hypnosis to speak in the different mental states, such as resting tensed and relaxed periods with either strong or weak voice and in various tempos. From the results of factor analysis, following three factors were found: (a) dynamics, (b) speech utility, and (c) time. While the first factor was heavily loaded on the depth of abdominal movements and related to the strength and the tempo of speeches, the second factor was loaded on the method of holding speeches and the third factor on the timing of speeches.

The present study examined the effects of stressful comments on autonomic measures during the performance of a task. Thirty subjects were assigned at random to the stress condition (S group) and to the nonstress condition (NS group). Negative and stressful comments were given to the S group. Positive and comfortable comments were given to the NS group after the performance. The results showed that heart rates were much higher during the performance than during the adaptation and the rest period, although they were not affected by the negative comments. Vasoconstriction was significantly larger in the S group than in the NS group. In conclusion, vasoconstriction was more sensitive to the stressful comments than heart rate was.

The comparison processes on orientations in “same” versus “different” judgment were investigated. Tasks of Exp. I were to compare orientations of two lines (SO and CO) successively presented. In Exp. II, the identical tasks were done in a rod-and-frame situation. The main results were as follows: (a) In both experiments, the “different” RTs as a function of SO resulted in an inverted U-shaped quadratic trend. (b) In Exp. I, the “same” RTs for 0° (vertical) and 90° (horizontal) SOs were slightly shorter than others, but in Exp. II, the “same” RTs were an U-shaped quadratic function of SO. These results supported the main assumptions led from Hubels' neurological findings on simple cells and from Krueger's noisy-operator theory.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of elaborative rehearsal and the degree of differentiation between to-be-remembered (R) and to-be-forgotten (F) items in selective memory. The item-by-item cueing procedure was used in presenting subject with 36-item list composed of four categories. R and F items for Category group belonged to different semantic categories, but to same categories for Noncategory group. Immediate and final free recall of R items, which were better for Category group than for Noncategory group, increased as a function of interval-length for both groups. As for F items, however, more intrusion errors (immediate recall) and more amount of recall (final recall) were found for Noncategory group. These results suggested that elaborative rehearsal and retrieval effort were important factors to facilitate memory performance.

The purpose of this study was to construct a moral judgement scale for the Japanese adolescent based on Kohlberg's theory and to examine its validity. The questionnaire was constructed with reference to Defining Issues Test, and administered to 115 high school- and 186 college-students. A considerable number of these subjects were interviewed after Kohlberg's original method and tested on their vocabulary. Results were as follows: (a) Differences among stages as measured by the questionnaire were developmentally significant; (b) the correlation between the scores of the questionnaire and of Kohlberg's method was comparatively high; and (c) the correlation between the vocabulary test score and the moral judgement score was low. It was concluded that this scale is valid for measuring moral development.

Scalp evoked potentials to tone pips were recorded for nine subjects while performing a visual tracking task. The pips, which differed in intensity (40 & 60dB), were presented as either frequent or infrequent stimuli. These stimuli were randomly presented under three stimulus conditions which were determined in terms of probability (0.10 or 0.40) and number of infrequent stimuli (24 or 96) in one run. It was shown that the amplitude of the P3 wave (around 340ms latency) in response to the infrequent stimuli was larger for the low probability condition than for the high probability condition, while no effect on the P3 amplitude was found for the numbers of the stimuli.

Using a microcomputer-based real-time BASIC laboratory automatization (RBLA) technique, a psychophysical threshold measurement was made at low cost. Random pulse train applied to the output port of the peripheral interface adaptor set an angle of the rotation of the pulse motor-controlled stimulus wheel. Key-input response of the subject was automatically filed onto the cassette memory.